Similar to last year, the weather was nice tonight (about 64 degrees at the start). There was some noticable wind in the middle section of the race, but nothing terrible. I tried to keep it somewhat conservative at the start, but still went out a little fast (first .25 miles was at 5:40 pace. I made a conscious effort to slow dow a bit for the rest of the first mile, eventhough there was at least 20 people in front of me. I crossed the 1 mile mark at 5:57 and was feeling good. The wind was felt the most from miles 1 to 1.55 at the turn around. I was working hard to keep the pace at 6:00. After the turn around, things felt better for a little while. Mile 2 was at 6:00 pace. I started feeling bad after 2.5 miles and was just trying to hang on at that point. I felt at that point that my position in the race wasnt going to change so I let up a little bit, but still wanted to break 19 min. Mile 3 was at 6:15. By the time I could see the finish and the clock, it read 18:48 and I thought I still had a chance to break 19 min if I pushed it for the final kick. I crossed the line at 18:59. The final .13 was at 5:57 pace. Total avg pace for the 3.13 miles per my garmin was 6:04. I thought going sub 19 min would get me in the top 10, but I finished in 16th. Last year, I ran 19:44 and I placed 18th. This was another official PR by about 22 seconds although I think the previous PR was on a long course.
I am happy with the result. It has been a long week at work and I have not slept well. I felt very sluggish during my pre race warm up so I am glad my body was able to respond well during the race. | 